mountains

Mt. Whitney, in California, is invariably described as the "tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states," with Denali, in the middle of Alaska, being the tallest mountain in North America.

This might make you wonder whether there is something of intermediate height in Canada or Mexico, or whether the taller mountains are only in Alaska.

Indeed, it turns out that western Canada has plenty of mountains taller than Mt. Whitney, as you can find (of course) on Wikipedia's List of mountains.

I love the "List of _____" articles!

iva bell hotspring

The cowboys all retired to their bedrolls (the gear I had seen strewn about), watertight denim envelopes containing warm bedding, and we returned to ours: down sleeping bags laid out over our tent, which we did not bother to set up.


Jalapeño and coffee

The cowboys were as much intrigued by our gear (tiny butane stove, water filter pump) as we were by theirs (bone-gripped pistols, a section of railroad rail as a makeshift anvil). We were very much enamored of them, of course. For one, I have never felt so under-dressed in camp. For another, the way they talked, always addressing each other by first name:

"Dee, pass the cheese please."
"Here you are, Ron."

Looking with dismay at our cranberries and sunflower seeds, they offered us tri-tip for the road.


Horses enjoying 'feed' (cowboy speak for vegetation of any kind?)

Reluctantly we bid farewell and began our day's hike down the trail, still aglow from the amazing hospitality we'd unexpectedly received from this generous band of cowboys.

But before loading up our packs, of course we had to check out the hot springs for which we had come to this spot. During the long hike the day before I had feared the hot springs might be nothing more than a mosquito-filled mud pit, but instead we found what must be the most beautiful hotsprings I have yet encountered, high up on a hillside, with a panoramic view down the entire valley to the West. It looked something like this: